This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.
Parallel translations
- WEB this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the God who is above.
- BSB this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.
- NKJV This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, For I would have denied God who is above.
- NASB That too would have been a guilty deed calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.
- NLT If so, I should be punished by the judges, for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job calls such idolatry an iniquity deserving judgment, for it would deny the God who is above. He recognizes idolatry as a betrayal of the true God.
Overview
Job declares that secret worship of the heavenly bodies would be a punishable sin because it denies the sovereign God who reigns above all. Idolatry is fundamentally treason against the Creator. This sober judgment underscores the exclusive claim God has on human worship, a claim honored perfectly by Christ, who worshiped the Father alone and through whom right worship is restored to fallen humanity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Job 31:11For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
- Deut 17:2–7If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
- Ps 50:6And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.
- Job 9:15Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
- Josh 24:27And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.
- Deut 17:9And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:
- Job 23:7There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
- Judg 11:27Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
- Gen 18:25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
- Josh 24:23Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.
- Prov 30:9Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
- Heb 12:23To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
- Titus 1:16They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
- Jude 1:4For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
- 2 Pet 2:1But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
- 1 Jn 2:23Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 31:28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.